Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has pledged to review the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme and implement debt forgiveness for qualifying students if elected into office.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former presidential candidate criticized the current administration’s student financing framework, asserting that young Nigerian graduates should not be forced to begin their working careers saddled with heavy financial liabilities.
Shaibu argued that President Bola Tinubu’s government has relied on loans to cushion the impact of sharp tuition fee hikes across tertiary institutions rather than addressing the root causes of rising education costs. He emphasized that a loan scheme should not be framed as a substitute for affordable public education or treated like a scholarship.
Instead, Atiku’s proposed alternative advocates for structural interventions aimed at lowering tuition costs directly, providing targeted grant support, and forgiving qualifying debts to ease the long-term financial pressure on students and their families.
The 2027 African Democratic Congress ADC presidential candidate, positions education as the vital cornerstone of national development, arguing that “education is the bedrock of a nation” and proposing systemic reforms to make Nigeria’s youth globally competitive.
His policy framework centers on guaranteeing free, compulsory basic education, expanding funding for tertiary institutions, modernizing curricula to prioritize innovation and digital entrepreneurship, and shifting focus toward technical and vocational skill building.
